Eliza Appoints Patrick Buell as Chief Deployment Officer

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Patrick Buell has joined Eliza as Chief Deployment Officer, bringing experience as a consulting founder and enterprise technology leader to the company's executive team.

Buell will lead Eliza's forward-deployed engineers, with a focus on developing technical talent and improving how teams translate clients' business priorities into working AI systems.

"Our clients are trusting us with work that matters to how their businesses run," said Stephen Garden, Co-Founder and CEO of Eliza. "Patrick understands that responsibility from his experience building a consultancy and working inside a large enterprise. I'm excited to have him leading our engineers as they tackle difficult problems and see those solutions through to production."

Buell co-founded Hakkōda, a data and AI consultancy acquired by IBM in 2025. He served as Vice President of Consulting and later Chief Innovation Officer, with experience spanning consulting delivery, team building, and AI co-innovation. Before Hakkōda, he spent more than eight years at Kaiser Permanente in enterprise data and technology roles.

"I've been fortunate to experience what a team can accomplish when it combines focus, experience, expertise, and grit with a best-in-class technology partnership. I really can't believe I get to do it again with OpenAI and the unbelievably talented team at Eliza," said Buell. "We are at one of the most exciting crossroads in human history. The trust our clients place in us to guide them through the uncertainty while optimizing the opportunity is not something I take lightly. And I'm grateful to join a team with an already proven record of delivering on that trust."

Eliza's appointment of Buell follows its recognition as an OpenAI Advanced Partner and the addition of Lori Borg as Chief Operating Officer. As the company grows, Buell will work closely with its delivery and technical leaders to develop consistent engineering practices and carry lessons from each engagement into the next, helping teams deliver efficiently while staying focused on clients' business objectives.

About Eliza

Eliza is an AI-native consultancy focused on enterprise adoption and production implementation of OpenAI technology. Its embedded teams bring together strategy, forward-deployed engineering, workflow redesign, and employee enablement. Working alongside clients from use-case selection through deployment, Eliza builds systems and develops the internal expertise clients need to operate and expand them. Learn more at eliza.com.

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SOURCE Eliza